Never Let Me Go
by Michebellaxo
Summary: Prompt from Gunner4Life :Post curse, Emma and Regina are together for a while now. Someone, (not Regina), makes a remark about commitment / marriage and Emma gets spooked and breaks up with her. Regina fights for them. M for language.


**A/N- Prompt from one of my most faithful reviewers, Gunner4Life. Prompt: Post curse, Emma and Regina are together for a while now. Someone, (not Regina), makes a remark about commitment / marriage and Emma gets spooked and breaks up with her. Regina fights for them. Hope you all like it! Please review :) I love seeing what you all think of my stories, and reviews really help how I write!**

* * *

"Regina?" Emma called from the front door. She was getting ready to go hang out with her mom and Ruby, they had made it a weekly habit since Regina and Emma started dating the year before. Snow and Ruby always complained that all she ever seemed to have time for was Regina and they wanted their own designated day each week that Regina couldn't encroach upon.

"Yes, dear?" Regina asked, walking down the stairs.

"I'm going now."

"Have fun, darling. Will you be coming here after?" Regina asked, taking the final steps to close the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around Emma's shoulders and kissed her sweetly.

"Uh no, I'll probably stay at mom's." Regina pushed her bottom lip into a full pout. They weren't living together, but Emma spent more nights there than she did away. Half her clothes were here, most of her toiletries and shoes had made it to the Mifflin mansion, and almost every morning she woke up to the beautiful mayor's face (or various body parts she fell asleep using as a pillow.)

"But why? We could have so much more fun here than you will have there," she breathed seductively. "I could wear something lacy and silky and you could take it off of me." She had her lips on Emma's neck before she knew it and the blonde was going weak in the knees and moaning deeply.

"Re. Gin. A." She tried to halt the brunettes ministrations, but Regina was going at her skin like it was dipped in chocolate. "Mmm, babe, you do this every week, and every week I still go. I made a promise. I always keep my promises."

"I know. I know." Regina let go of Emma, who took the chance to turn and leave. Before she made it two steps away her jacket was pulling her back. Well, less her jacket and more Regina grasping on it. "Fine, have fun. But… will you promise me you'll come home tonight? Please, dear? If you can manage to steal away before midnight…the surprise will be _so_ much better." Emma nodded.

"I promise to come home tonight. But, I can't promise it will be before midnight… I'll see what I can do. I love you. Be good."

"I'm _always_ good," Regina offered in one last teasing tone. "Love you too!"

* * *

Emma walked into the bar and immediately found her two best friends (it was still easier for her to think of Snow as her friend, not her mother).

"Hey guys," she greeted, sliding her jacket down her arms. "I'm sleeping at Regina's tonight, so no movie night for me."

"Why? Have a curfew now?"

"Whatever. Tomorrow is our one year anniversary, so bite me."

"Ooh, do you guys have anything special planned?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know what. I tried to ask Regina what she wanted me to do and she said nothing, just told me a time to be ready by and said she wanted to take care of the rest."

"What do you think she's doing?" Ruby squealed.

"I don't know."

"It sounds special!" Snow contributed. "Oh, do you think she's going to propose? I saw her at the jewelry store!"

"What? No! We've only been together a year… and we don't even live together," Emma denied.

"Yeah, you do," Ruby stated incredulously. Emma looked to Snow for reassurance.

"Sorry, Emma, you sort of do? Haven't you noticed you literally only spend Friday nights at the apartment? You guys have been that way for almost 5 months!"

Emma realized that it was true. She had wrapped herself in Regina so deeply that she couldn't even realize that she was disappearing. There wouldn't be an Emma Swan anymore, it would be Emma, Regina's girlfriend, or fiancé, or wife. "Oh my god. I can't… oh wow. I'm sorry guys, I kind of suck."

"It's no big deal," Ruby reassured. "We get it. Your mom is that way with your dad, and I used to be that way with Peter."

"Wow, um, no. I mean… I love her but we are _so_ not that far in our relationship to be compared to mom and David."

"Emma, are you sure? You guys seemed pretty settled and stable. This relationship you're pursuing with Regina can't be just a fling. You can't give her commitment and take it away; it will destroy her. You need to decide if you can commit to her or not."

"Right. I'm going to go get a round of drinks." Emma drank the night away, deeply drank it gone. She noticed when eleven-thirty came and passed, and it pissed her off. She wasn't going to go home that night. And she was going to break up with Regina tomorrow. No, she couldn't do it tomorrow it was their anniversary. She would stay at her parent's place tomorrow and break up with her Sunday. She couldn't do that either, she knew if she didn't show up for their dinner tomorrow that Regina would automatically assume she was breaking up with her. She would have to go to dinner tomorrow, act distant, not sleep with Regina and break up with her Sunday.

"Let's go home and watch a movie!" a very drunk Emma shouted at Ruby and Snow when she was climbing back into the booth from having, yet another, drink.

"I thought you were staying at Regina's tonight?" Snow asked.

"Yeah… I can't do that, I think I'm going to have to break up with her."

"What?"

"Yeah. I'm not a marriage type of woman, and she is…so I'll have to cut it off before she gets too attached." Snow and Ruby caught each other's eyes over a mess of blonde hair. They knew it was already too far in for Emma to cut off the relationship without hurting Regina, and they both knew how Regina could act after having her heart broken.

* * *

The next day, Emma woke up on her parent's couch, seeing as she had fallen asleep, or more like passed out, after less than half of their movie last night. She looked around and tried to find a clock for the time. She noticed the one above the sink and realized it was already past noon. Regina was going to kill her. She stood to find her jacket, which was hanging neatly on the coat rack on the wall by the door. After finding her cell phone in the pocket, Emma sat down before looking at it. She knew there would be calls and texts from her girlfriend. Sure enough, after she was sitting, she slid the screen to access them and found six missed calls, two voicemails and four texts. She ignored the voicemails, figuring they would just say the same thing that the texts said. She browsed the four unread messages.

_12:15 Emma, is everything ok? I thought for sure you'd want to be here before midnight tonight… ;)_

_1:23 Emma, I'm worried, your mother and Ruby won't message me back and you're usually not this late. Please call me when you get this._

_2:48 Your mother messaged me shortly after my last text. I'm furious with you. She said you're spending the night there? You promised me. What's going on? Did I do something wrong? You never break your promises. Please, just tell me what happened?_

_4:31 Emma, forget the last message. Clearly, I didn't do anything wrong and this is just on you. Happy fucking Anniversary, Emma. _

Emma sighed heavily, forced some aspirin down with water to aid her pounding head and grabbed some clothes from her room to go take a shower. After she was dressed, she walked out of the bathroom to see her parents making lunch and coffee.

"Morning, guys."

"Good morning, Emma. I'm guessing that yours probably isn't so good so far though?" Mary Margaret asked.

"No. I had a million messages from Regina. She's pissed. I promised I would be home last night."

"Emma…"

"I really don't want to hear it."

"Ok." Mary Margaret shrugged and studied her daughter's face looking for a sign if she should bring up Emma's 'decision' from the night before. She decided Emma didn't deserve consideration about it, and spoke again. "Emma, about what you said last night… are you sure?"

"Yeah. I… I can't be anyone's _someone_. I'm not good at it and Regina is ready for more, I know she is… but I can't do it. I don't have a choice."

"What did you say last night?" David interjected.

"I'm going to end things with Regina tomorrow."

"Why?"

"I _just_ said why."

"Yeah, but I thought you guys were doing really well. You practically live there, and Henry loves you two being together."

"God, just, you guys need to stop bothering me about it. I'm sure. I can't do it."

Her parents just nodded and gave each other "the look," the one they always had when they thought they knew better than her, but had given up on trying to persuade her otherwise. She drank a mug of coffee before she left, knowing she would need the caffeine to make it through the day. Then she headed to Regina's.

* * *

She opened the door with her shiny new key that Regina had given her a couple weeks previous. She hadn't had to use it often; the door was usually unlocked when she arrived. She found Henry and Regina in the living room watching a movie. Regina had dark circles under her eyes, which didn't surprise Emma because of the times all of the messages were sent at. Henry beamed at her when she walked in and sat down in the armchair. Regina didn't even look at her.

"Hey kid, why don't you go get ready to see Neal, yeah?" Emma said. Neal wouldn't be there to pick him up until three, but Henry could take a hint, and by the way his mother looked he could tell that Emma was in trouble. After she heard all the steps of the stairs being walked on, she looked at Regina. "Hey."

Regina ignored her and stared intently at the movie that was playing, but Emma could tell she wasn't really watching it.

"Regina…" Emma tried to coax.

"Don't you dare 'Regina' me."

"I'm sorry I didn't come back here last night."

"Are you? Tell me, what was your reasoning?" Regina snarled.

"I… I don't really have a reason. I drank a lot and just didn't want to come back here drunk."

"You promised."

"I know."

"You never break your promises, Emma, especially not to me."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happened between when you left and when you decided not to come home?"

"For fuck's sake Regina, why does it matter? Nothing happened! I'm… I _did_ go home last night. I live with my parents." Regina recoiled as though Emma had slapped her.

"Oh? Well fine. I'm sorry that sleeping here 85% of the time doesn't qualify this to be your home. I'm sorry where your son and girlfriend live isn't home to you," she countered defiantly.

"Regina… can we, I don't know, can we _not_ do this today? I said I was sorry."

"Fine."

"Well, obviously it isn't fine, that's like, woman's handbook rule number one, fine doesn't mean fine."

"What would you rather I say?" Regina asked bitterly. Emma knew she shouldn't get Regina's hopes up, she would break up with her…tomorrow, but she couldn't let the whole day be shit, otherwise she might as well just break up with her right now."

"Happy Anniversary?"

"Was that a question or were you telling me?"

"Both?"

"_What_ has gotten into you? Everything was normal before you left last night. Did… did your mother or Ruby say something about us? Are they back on their kick of you being too good for me? Because _I_ know that already, but somehow you and I work and whatever they said… just let me prove it wrong."

"_They_ didn't say anything! It's _my _choice!" Emma shouted without filtering herself. _Fuck. _She just messed up big time, and she could tell by the widening of chocolate eyes that Regina understood at least half of the meaning behind her words.

"What is your choice, Emma?" Regina asked weakly after a minute's recovery, the confidence and anger gone from her voice.

"Nothing. I don't want to do this today, I don't want to ruin today."

"It's already ruined, dear, so pray, _do_ tell."

"I…" Emma searched for the words to crush her girlfriend's heart. She couldn't do it carelessly; she loved Regina, whether or not she could make a real commitment to her. But, there was no going back from what she had blurted out, so she just went with the simplest words she could find. "I can't do this anymore."

"You can't do what anymore? The fighting? I… I'm sorry, Emma, I won't fight with you anymore. I'm sorry," Regina responded frantically. She knew that the fighting wasn't what Emma was talking about, but she couldn't believe it, not until the words were said.

"I can't do _this_… _us_, anymore. I didn't even realize I was practically living here until last night! I'm not… I don't commit, Regina, this isn't me. I can't…" She trailed off, not able to find it within herself to say what she needed to say.

"You can't what?"

"I can't be with you anymore." Her gut twisted at the face Regina was making. It was a look of horror and pain.

Regina felt like her lungs had been stabbed and her stomach had been ripped out. She felt like acid had been poured on her heart. It took her so much to finally give in to dating Emma. At first it had been all about having a bedmate, but Regina fell, she fell swift and hard and now it was all being taken away. Her happiness was being taken away, again.

"You can't… Emma, no. Please, Emma, please, I love you! I know you love me, too! I can tell this is hurting you, too! Why end it if it hurts to end! Please, Emma, don't… don't do this to me, to us!" Regina was crying, her body was shaking from the sobs she was trying to suppress.

"I have to. This wasn't what I wanted. This was supposed to be about sex, nothing more. I don't want a relationship, I don't want to get married or have someone relying on me for their happiness. I'm sorry this is hurting you, but I have to go." She stood up and headed for the door, there were no sounds that she could hear aside from the sobs and pleas of the woman she had just broken up with.

* * *

She didn't want to go back to the apartment and deal with her parents, so she went to the diner to get some hot cocoa. Ruby was wiping the bar counter when she entered, so she took a seat there at one of the empty stools.

"Hey Ruby," she said in a glum voice.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I just did it."

"Did what?" Emma looked at her with a hard glare. "Oh. You broke up with her?"

"Yeah."

"And how'd she take it?"

"She didn't. She just cried and begged me not to, and I left."

"Ouch. That seems kind of cruel, Em."

"What? You're on her side?"

"I've been on the receiving end of a break up. Em, you guys were… you seemed like you were meant for each other."

"Well, we're not! Fuck, just drop it!"

* * *

Regina heard a knock at the door and hoped it was Emma, so she wiped her face and practically sprinted to the door. When she opened it, though, she wasn't greeted with a pretty blonde, but with the pixie-haired mother of said blonde.

"Snow," she greeted coldly.

"Regina… I wanted to come see how you were doing."

"How do you _think_ I'm doing? You can be happy now! I'm almost completely out of your family's lives! Enjoy that."

"Oh Regina," Snow cried. "No, I… I didn't want her to break up with you. I think she's crazy to. I know how much you guys love each other."

"Well apparently, it's just how much _I _love_ her, _because the way she left, that was not love."

"You should fight for her, Regina. She only broke up with you because she's scared."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Regina stared at the other woman. "What are you talking about?"

"She realized how serious your relationship is and she got scared. She ran." Snow shrugged. "It's what she does."

"I don't chase."

"I know, Regina," Snow sighed. She didn't even really know why she was trying; both women were stubborn and wouldn't do anything they didn't want to do. "I know that, but I also know for a fact that Emma loves you and will probably always love you. She doesn't want to not be with you, she's just scared of commitment." Regina closed her eyes in response and put her hand over her own heart, clawing at the skin in an attempt to make the ache in her chest go away. She said goodbye to her uninvited guest and closed the door.

Against everything she told herself, she called Emma. The phone didn't ring, sending her straight to voicemail. "Emma, I'm sorry for the way I broke down this morning. You should… you should probably come get your things if this is truly something you don't want anymore. Neal will still pick up Henry in a few minutes, and I think it would be best if you got your things while he's not here. Anyway… I'll see you later."

* * *

Emma got the message around seven, so she headed over to the mansion in her bug, knowing she'd have many things to take back to the apartment. She knocked on the door, not feeling right using the key. Regina opened the door in a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, which caught Emma by surprise.

"Hey… I got your message."

"Clearly. There are some empty boxes in the laundry room." With that, Regina turned around and headed back to her study, pouring herself another drink. She didn't realize Emma followed her until she turned from her side cart to sit on the couch. "Can I help you with something else, Miss Swan?"

The formal title felt like a stab to the stomach for Emma and she gasped. "Uh… I just wanted to talk to you. Figure out stuff with Henry… you know. I still want to be friends."

"I have no place in my life for more friends, Emma. I had a place in my life for a girlfriend, but suddenly that position is now available. Apparently it wasn't good enough for you."

"Regina, that's not what it was. I—"

"Ran."

"What?"

"You ran. When things get serious, you run, it's what you do. Emma, I don't want you as a friend, I want you here, in this house… _our_ house. This isn't a home without you! I love you, why can't that be enough to make you stay?"

"Regina, I just…I can't do it."

"You can't do what? Be with someone for more than a year? Be with someone who makes you happy just because it's the longest relationship you've ever had?" Regina taunted icily. She wasn't expecting the response she was given.

"Yes." Regina gave Emma a double take.

"Yes?"

"Yes. This is the longest relationship I've been in, and I can't do that. I can't be the settle down and get married type! It isn't my thing!"

"As far as settling down goes, you've been doing it for months! You've been here almost every night for months, Emma! And nobody asked you to be the marrying type! I just want you here, because I love you."

"You don't want to get married?"

"I don't know! Not right now! Maybe one day, but that day is far, _far_ away."

"Why were you at the jewelry store?"

"You think I was buying you a ring?" Regina chuckled darkly. She walked over to her desk and opened the top drawer, pulling out a velvet box with an emerald ribbon and chucked it at Emma. Emma tried to catch it, instead it hit her hands hard and dropped to the floor. She bent over and gingerly picked it up. "Open it," the brunette spat.

Emma hesitated, but untied the ribbon letting it fall to the floor and snapped open the box. Inside, nestled in white satin, was a white gold necklace with a locket pendant that was perfectly circular. She pulled the necklace out, dropping the box onto the couch and opened the locket. Inside, on the left was a picture of Henry from his most recent yearbook picture. The right side had a picture of the three of them, Regina and Emma in the front with Henry's head above theirs, nestled in the seam of their pressed together heads. She gasped and felt a tear hit her hand; reflexively reaching up to wipe the tears she didn't know she had been crying.

"Regina…"

"No. Don't."

"I…"

"You need to decide now if you're in this or not, Emma. You of all people should know that I will never ask you for more than you're willing to give, too many people have done that to me, and I would _never_ do that to you. But, what I am asking you for right now is that you'll love me and let me love you. We have a _good_ thing. You and me, and Henry, and I don't want that to end. I don't care if you still sleep at your parents' place sometimes. I just want to be able to wake up to you sometimes. I love you more than I have ever, romantically, loved anyone. And I need you. I _know_ you need me, too. You've told me that before. So please, I just need you to decide if you can make the decision not to run just because you're afraid, I need for you to decide if what we have is worth staying for. That's all I'm asking." She looked into the green eyes in front of her searching for an answer. She wasn't crying, though she felt like doing so, preferably curled into a ball on the couch with a bottle of scotch in her hand, but no, she wasn't.

"It is… we are." And with those words, Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and lifted her off the floor, spinning her around. "I'm sorry. I'll stay. Always."

"Don't say things you don't mean, Emma."

"No, I mean it. I do. I promise."


End file.
